US environmental groups launch offsetting initiative

A group of independent environmental agencies in the US yesterday announced they are joining forces to push for a crack-down of the growing carbon offset market.

The six non-profit groups have formed the Offset Quality Initiative (OQI), which recommends a widespread improvement in offsetting practices and the implementation of more stringent rules in forthcoming Federal law.

The group brings together some of the US's biggest environmental groups – including The Climate Trust, the largest carbon offset buyer in the US and an influential lobby group on green issues.

"The Offset Quality Initiative brings together many of the non-governmental community's top experts in the carbon market," said The Climate Trust’s executive director, Mike Burnett. "Providing a forum for these leading thinkers will support policy makers as they consider the integration of greenhouse gas offsets to emerging climate change policy."

The OQI – which also includes the Pew Centre on Global Climate Change, the Greenhouse Gas Experts Network, the California Climate Action Registry, The Climate Group and the Environmental Resources Trust – aims to promote best practices across the burgeoning offset market.

It also said it would work to develop a consensus for the treatment of greenhouse gas offsets in government policy and educate people about the problems and opportunities involved in developing such policies.

Despite the strength of the group, it remains to be seen whether the initiative will wield enough power to sway White House policy. Calls for tougher government regulation of the myriad carbon credit programs operating across the US has so far fallen on deaf ears, and while Congress has published guidelines for best practice through its Federal Trade Commission, no specific policy has been produced.

Critics of offsetting schemes have argued this lack of regulation undermines the credibility of many corporate offset programs and allows some of them to get away with failing to deliver promised carbon savings.

However, despite growing concerns about the environmental benefits of such schemes, the offset market is continuing to expand rapidly and has tripled in size in the past two years to be worth around £60m globally.